Dailystar: “ROMANIAN PRESIDENT THANKS EX-PATS FOR MILKING BRITISH DOLE”

ROMANIA’S leader has thanked his countrymen for claiming dole in Britain instead of at home.

President Traian Basescu paid tribute to the two million who live abroad instead of signing on in their own country.

Tens of thousands of Romanians receive taxpayers’ cash in Britain as they are entitled to child benefit, tax credits and housing support as soon as they arrive.

Those who find themselves out of work can get generous payments such as unemployment benefit ­ after 12 months in Britain.

In an amazing telly broadcast Basescu, 58, said: “Imagine if the two million Romanians working in Britain, Italy, Spain, France, Germany, came to ask for unemployment benefits in Romania when we already have deficits at the unemployment funds.

“So to these people, we have to thank them for what they are doing for Romania.”

He blamed the boom in Romanian workers heading to other EU countries on lazy, pampered Westerners who prefer not to work.

He said: “In those countries it is more comfortable to be unemployed than to do manual jobs. Romanians do that hard labour for them.”

Romania laid off 30,000 public sector workers last year and is sacking another 40,000 this year in its bid to deal with the global slump.